Teribus's post at 31 Jul 11 - 05:39 AM above is exceptional nonsense even by his own standards. He accepts that kicking out Gadaffi could make way for a worse regime regime (albeit democratic). But that's ok, he says - we'll deal with it. Another war? And does he think that one would also be legitimised by Arab-league endorsement? (
His whole tack is risible in any case, as evidenced by the west's response to belligerent islamic fundamentalism in Iran.

The extraordinary thing about this thread is the determination to ignore what's happening in Syria. Horrors so bad that even Saudi's King Abdullah has condemned them. Yet Ron solemnly declares that we must confine ourselves to Libya and ignore the wider context. No wonder. His argument that Gadaffi's unpleasant style of leadership justifies war falls to the ground when Syria is considered. For as I pointed out dozens of posts ago, however unpleasant Gadaffi may be, Assad is infinitely unpleasanter.

All Ron can do is witter on about Gadaffi's $60bn. He fails to take on board that Libya by international norms has very light defences. Get real, Ron. You can't build a national defensive capability for $60bn. And it would take vastly more than that to give it offensive capability. Oh, and it would take many years, and the whole scenario of Gadaffi withdrawing some cash and buying some guns is grossly improbable anyway.

As again I said earlier, Libya was a soft option for the west, and they're struggling even with that. Syria on the other hand is armed to the hilt, which is why its wantonly brutal regime will continue unchecked if the US and UK have anything to do with it.

As Ake told you, Ron, it's not about money. It's about will. And where there's a will there's a way. Witness the humble Taliban's success in taking out (in open warfare) some guys from the unit that murdered Bin Laden.

As for all the prattling about democracy, that's bollocks. For the west the flag of democracy is no more than a flag of convenience - an excuse to replace Saddam, for instance, with a regime that suppresses women's rights. Kissinger, for all his faults, was at least being honest when he said in relation to the other 9/11: "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves."